In providing means for mounting drapery panels onto the sliders of a traverse rod, there has long been recognized the problem of enabling said panels to be quickly applied to said traverse rod and equally quickly removable therefrom. This is desirable for washing or otherwise cleaning the drapery material and/or for applying, removing or changing the drapery material according to the season. Thus, for example, in a given southerly or southwesterly facing room with a large picture window, it may be desirable to have a sun-shading type of drapery, such as a drapery comprising vertically arranged wooden slats during the winter when the sun is low and would otherwise shine into the room but equally desirable to provide a wholly different type of drapery, as one made of a lighter cloth-like material, during the summer when the sun is higher. Alternatively, in other circumstances, it may be desirable to have the sun-shading type of drapery during the summer to provide shade against a late afternoon sun when the heat therefrom is undesirable but to provide a relatively light drapery for use in winter when the entry of the sun's rays is desired.
While this subject has been addressed in the past, and a number of designs have been suggested for this purpose, none of them provide fully the ease of operation desired particularly in connection with relatively stiff draperies such as those comprising vertically arranged slats, such as wooden slats, and with minimal spacing between the upper end of the drapery and the traverse rod means.
Particularly, note may be taken of the patent to Ford, U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,603, as showing quick attachable and detachable means but this does not permit swiveling of at least the lower part of a hanger as is desirable in connection with draperies which are expected to fold or pleat as same are moved to open position. It is, of course, recognized that many designs of hangers permit such pivoting of the hangers for this purpose but the pivoting of the entire hanger is not possible when the hangers are connected together by string or other elongated flexible element such as shown in the U.S. Pats. Nos. to Ford, 3,522,621 and 3,616,486.
On the other hand, the patent to Ford, U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,621, while permitting swiveling of at least the lower end of the hanger, does not permit removal of the drapery from the traverse rod excepting by removal of the entire hanger from such rod. While the patent to Ford, U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,486 does permit a snapped attachment of the hanger from the sliding portion thereof within the traverse rod, it is not adaptable to a bottom slotted rod.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,296,651 and 3,818,543 (Baker) provide a nonswiveling slider with a swiveling and attachable and detachable lower part but they require vertical motion in the connecting and disconnecting of the lower part of the hanger from the slider portion thereof and hence require an undesirable amount of space between the upper end of the drapery and the lower end of the slider. The present invention substantially diminishes this space. The same is true of German Pat. No. 1,151,102.
Accordingly, the objects of the invention include:
1. To provide a hanger structure particularly adaptable to draperies of the type comprising vertically arranged wooden slats adapted for use in a bottom-slotted traverse rod and permitting quick and easy attaching and detaching of such draperies to and from the slide means of such hangers.
2. To provide hangers, as aforesaid, which will be sufficiently small as to minimize their visibility when in a position of use.
3. To provide hangers, as aforesaid, which will space the upper end of the drapery a minimum distance from the traverse rod.
4. To provide hangers, as aforesaid, which are capable of rapid and inexpensive manufacture, such as by injection molding from a self-lubricating type of plastics materials such as a nylon.
5. To provide hangers, as aforesaid, wherein the manner of such attaching and detaching will be sufficiently obvious as to be apparent to the user without special instructions.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with devices of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspection of the accompanying drawings.